, 1887-06-25

treaty, it is certain that 1t even all the sugar
grown In he West Indies was byand by admit
ted free Of dutyinto the States the demandc rea-
ted in their former markets would tend to raise
the price for somewhere else and this circula-
tion must affect In that manner the prices, so
that any treaty teEding to do away with
duties, must necessarily be considered q bene-
ft and of course more SO to the first and ne
thought that ssthe sooner" we started to at-
tend to this matter the better it would be for us.
With regard to the question raised of re-
placing the import duties which we would
lose by q favorable issue of the Petition, he
thought, that the same way in which the
import duties are taken off when necessary,
they could be put on if required.
In conclusion he would say, that, according
20 his opinion. no other country had a favored
nation clause equal to the one OF the United
States VITA Denmark, as the grades of sugar
and the quality of molasses exported from
she Hawaiian islands to the United States
are of the exact quality of the product of
Santa Cruz; hence, no other nation could
claim the advantage of a similar promise as
the one caused by the treaty obtained by Mr..
Spreckles for those islands, and hence the
strong hope of success he entertained as re.
cards the issue of the Petition.
LIST Crownmember (QM;S) said that there
could be no doubt of the great advantage TO
the colony of such g treaty as was contem-
plated by the honorable member who intro
duced the resolution. 1t would mean a gain
of about 100000 on q crop OF 10000 hhds;
The only question was whether it was at all
likely that it could be obtained. If we ask,
who is to pay US this money! the answer
must be, the Ct. SIS Treasury, or In other
words, it would have to come out of the
pockets of the American taxpayers. What
have we to offer them in exchange for this
sacrifice? It must be answered, next to
uothingi It is proposed to admit American
products free of duty. Now, as to food stuffs,
we must of necessity get them from America,
and il does not matter to the Americans
whether we tax these products lightly, heavi-
". or not ct ell. As to manufactured articles,
. machinery already enters free, n the only
advantage gained by America would be that q
few merchants would secure q small interest
of the business In cotton and other fabrics.
Whatever influence these merchants or
manufacturers might have In favour OF a
treaty would be more than outweighed by that
of the Louisiana sugar planters, against whose
interests such a treaty would operate. We,
on our side would have to give up very little,
for it must not be supposed that the RENTED
duties would in any manner find their way
into American pockets, they would simply be
distributed among consumers on the island,
who would get their articles cheaper. 1t was
therefore q mistake to say that we would
gain 4300,000 in exchange for our import
duties. The import duties, though lost to the
Colonial Treasury, would be distributed
among the inhabitants. Hence it might be
truly said, that we would get a large sum of
money for next to no compensation, and 1t
did not seem to him that there was the least
chance Of carrying through such a bargain.
Srd Member for Christiansted's Country
District (Leeey) would say that by the last
honorable Speakers remarks, he would seem
suited to speak in the United States Senate
and for the people of the United States
rather than for this council and for the bene-
1T of this community. He had not proposed
to ask what the people of the United States
would say or who was to pay the $50 more
Der hid, or what should be done with it,
He had simply proposed to petition His
Majesty the King Of Denmark to ask the
United States Government to fulfil a prom
ise already made and not 'to enter into a
new treaty" IS the other nations are doing.
The GouernOr said that he felt bound to
call the attention Of the Council to the fol.
lowing words used in the 4th clause Of the
peasisacn. VIZ: @aad which it could not admit
to have made, with intention to deceive and
10 break The clause shQs worded could not
be retained. as It mas offensive 10 the q. S.
government.